Starlight Passion
by ZonaRose
Summary: Soon after a stranger came to our town people started dying. She has her secrets but then again don't we all? Can I stop the murderer before it's too late? "I'm sorry Nanoha your under arrest for murder." "But Fate I'm innocent." AU/Yuri/Shoujo-Ai
1. Starlight Lost

**Authors Notes**: Well everyone hears the start of another story this will be similar to Lightning Fingers in the drama department as well as the passion. This story will actually happen in two stages because there's actually two different stories there are going to be going on simultaneously and not simultaneously if I'm making any sense. If not that's okay you're in good company my family doesn't understand me either. Lol.

**Warning**: This is an M rated story and will have a cold shower chapter or two. I will let you know when those chapters comes up.

This story contains Yuri/girl loving girl note have been forewarned.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own or make money from MGLN.

Well now I guess it's time to get on with the story. I hope you enjoy the read.

_ZR };-_

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><p><em><strong>Starlight Passion<strong>_

_**By**_

_**Zona Rose**_

_**Chapter 1 Starlight Lost**_

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><p><strong>Nanoha's POV<strong>

_'It was a dark and stormy night.' _Flash and after a few sec. the loud roll of thunder. _'I really need to not do that to myself. I just hate thunder storms; they scare the crap out of me. This one looks bad too, it's coming off the Mountains, which means it's going to be a cold rain.'_

The lightning and thunder was getting closer by the minute. I looked at my hands and my knuckles were white as I was gripping the wheel so hard. Then I could see a wall of water coming at me from the storm. When the downpour hit so did the lightning strike, right in the middle of the road.

I screamed and yanked the wheel to the right and right off the road in to a ditch and flipped the car on to its roof. Everything that was on the seats and floor was now on the ceiling. The only reason I'm not is my seatbelt is cutting in to me and holding me in place.

I slowly put my hand on the ceiling now floor and reach for the button to release the seatbelt. As I push it I know I'm going to hit hard, so I tried to roll to my side so as not to hit my head. As I landed on my right shoulder I felt it dislocate as all of my weight landed on it.

I don't know how long I laid there in pain. When I noticed a light was bobbing towards me. I just knew that I was getting colder and colder by the minute, and for some reason I was soaking wet, but I couldn't comprehend as to why I was still inside of my car.

I must be hallucinating because now I'm hearing a dog barking, it seems very excited about something. I can hear one of my doors trying to be opened, after a short while I could hear it creaking and groaning in protest.

I could faintly comprehend that someone was trying to talk to me but I was unable to respond, I moved my mouth but nothing came out accept moans of pain. The cold was starting to finally get to me as I closed my eyes to go to sleep, but the person slapped my face to try and keep me awake, but all I wanted to do was get away from this pain, maybe even this life.

The person seem to be checking me out to see if I had any broken bones, but when they touched my right shoulder I screamed in pain. As gently and as carefully as they could I was pulled from the car, cradled in someone's arms. I slowly slipped into unconsciousness, blissfully unaware of the pain that was racking my body as the person ran with me in their arms.

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><p><strong>Fate's POV<strong>

Arf and I were sitting on the front porch getting ready to enjoy the storm that was going to be passing over the mountain range any minute. When Arf started to bark furiously I glanced over to see what she was so interested in. I could see a car driving down the road.

Just as the rain had passed by and was moving towards the road I was thinking to myself that that person should stop before something happens. No sooner had those thoughts crossed my mind when a lightning bolt struck the middle-of-the-road causing the driver to swerve off the road hitting the ditch and then flipped over.

Without thinking I grabbed a flashlight and started running with Arf right behind me. As I got closer to the car I could see someone moving around inside, I tried opening the door but it wouldn't budge I had to put my foot against the side of the car and pry open the door.

The ditch was already starting to fill up with water. I had to get this person out of their car as quickly as possible or they were going to drown. Arf wouldn't stop barking; it was as if she was trying to tell me to hurry up. I could only go so fast in this cold harsh rain.

Once the door was opened I crawled in and before my eyes lies a woman shivering in the puddle of water that was seeping in from the ditch. I asked her if she's all right but all I get is moaning and groaning coming out of her mouth, then I noticed that her eyes are starting to close so I slapped her face to try and keep her awake.

This seemed to work a little bit so I slowly checked her over and when I touched her right shoulder she screamed in pain. Taking a mental note to check it once we get back to the house, I continue to check to see if there were any other injuries. Upon noticing her head injury as well as the pain in her shoulder I came to the conclusion that everything else seem to be in order.

As gently and as carefully as I possibly could I pulled her from the car cradling her in my arms careful not to hurt her shoulder I start running back to the house. She seems to have slipped into unconsciousness between the car and house. It worries me that she might have a concussion.

After getting into the house I went straight to the bathroom; I put the lid of the toilet down and then set her down on top of it, I then checked her head wound, it didn't seem too bad. So I checked her shoulder and it was dislocated, I figured I probably should put it back in place while she's unconscious. It would be less painful this way. With a quick pull of her arm I heard and felt it pop in place, she also moaned in pain even being unconscious she felt it.

My next course of action was to get her out of her wet clothing. After that was done I started filling up the bathtub with hot water as she was still shivering from the cold rain. Setting her down into the warm tub I had to hold her up so she wouldn't slide under the water.

I was trying my best not to ogle her naked body, I could feel my cheeks turn red with a blush as I couldn't keep my eyes from roaming and taking in the beauty before me. From her beautiful face, to her perfectly sized breasts, slim waist and nice legs. If only I could find a girl like this that would even look at me, never mind want to go out with me.

Once the water in the tub started to cool I knew it was time to take her out, so I pulled the plug and let the water drain. I placed a towel on top of the toilet and gently picked her up and set her on it, as gently and as carefully as I could I dried her off. Once this was done I picked her up and carried her to my bed, laying her down I went to look for some sweat clothes those probably going to be the only thing that would fit her at the moment.

When I went to move her right arm into the sleeve of the sweatshirt she made a whimpering sound. It was so adorable that I committed the sound to memory. After I was done I pulled the blankets back and put her in to bed.

After making sure she was comfortable, I grabbed some dry clothes and headed for my shower I needed to warm up from that cold rain. After I dried off and got dressed I realized I had a small problem, I could sleep on my couch but I had let the fire go out in the living room and I didn't feel like restarting it, the bed was big enough for the two of us but I didn't think she would want to wake up to a total stranger sleeping next to her. So my only other option was to sleep in the old rocking chair.

The next morning I called one of my deputies to let her know that I wasn't going to be coming in. My next call was to the towing company the only one in town, it wasn't someone I wanted to talk to. Never mind that early in the morning.

"Scaglietti Towing and Repair, Jail speaking."

"Hey Jail I have a car close to my house that went off the road in last night's storm. I need you to come out and tow it into town and then let me know what it will take to get it roadworthy again."

"Sure Fate I'll do anything for you _doll_."

"Jail please don't start with me today, I'm not in the mood to deal with it." After that I proceeded to hang up on him and walked over to the bed to check on the woman I had rescued last night.

She seemed to be having a bad dream, as she was moaning and twitching and every once in a while she would say some words in Japanese. If only I knew Japanese I might be able to soothe her, but all I can do is wipe the sweat from her brow and comfort her in words of English.

Throughout that day and into the early evening she would have that bad dream she would even slip into some English but only a few words like "_**must find**_" but the word that she said the most and bothered me the most "_**murderer**_". _'Was this woman looking for a murder, or was she running away from one?'_

She finally seemed to calm down and get some restful sleep; at least I hoped it was sleep and not something else. I slept in my rocking chair again only because I wanted to be near her in case she needed me.

The next day was more of the same so I tried my best to comfort her. It seems that my voice and my touch would calm her down the most, so I would stroke her hair as I talked to her this put her at ease so that she could sleep.

It was starting to get late so I put on some soothing music stoked the fire and tried to get comfortable in my rocking chair again. I would look over at the bed to check on the woman every once in a while. Until my red eyes looked into the most beautiful blue eyes I had ever seen, she was finally awake.

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><p><strong>Nanoha's POV<strong>

As I slowly became aware; I noticed that my shoulder was throbbing, and that part of my head was throbbing as badly as my right shoulder. _'I must've still hit it when I fell in the car.'_ Next I noticed that the rest of my body was nothing but a big dull ache. But the rest of me was warm not cold like I last remembered.

I could hear the crackling of a fire, and in the distance I could hear music. I slowly opened my eyes to take in my surroundings, I was lying on an old-fashioned bed that had a canopy and curtains around it, beyond that I could see the fireplace it looked inviting if I had someone to cuddle up with.

In front of the fireplace was a rug in on it was a huge dog, the fire made its coat look fiery red but I'm quite sure that was just the play of light from the fire. There was a rocking chair sitting next to the fire and someone was sitting in it gently rocking back and forth.

This person had yellowish blonde hair draped over their shoulder and it cascaded down the front of her to pool in her lap, from what I could tell she was well endowed with a slim waist and long legs.

As I looked at her beautiful face her long lashes slowly opened and I could see the most beautiful Burgundy red eyes they made me think of a fine red wine to be slowly savored over time. Before she noticed that I was staring at her I could see sadness and just a hint of loneliness and those beautiful eyes.

When she notices that I'm staring at her she smiles and stands up and walks over to me gently sitting down onto the edge of the bed. Her smile doesn't completely cover up what I see in her eyes, if I hadn't seen it before her smile I might not have noticed that it was still there.

"Hi there I'm glad you're awake. Do you understand English?"

"Yes very well."

"Good; how do you feel?"

"My head and shoulder hurt, but the rest of me is one big ache."

"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions? I just want to make sure that you're all right."

"Yes, I guess so."

"All right what's your name?"

"Nanoha, Taka…Tsukimura, Nanoha." _'I'm sorry Suzuka I have to borrow your name again.'_

"Well it's nice to meet you Miss. Tsukimura. My name is Fate, Fate Testarossa. How old are you?"

"It's not very nice to ask someone you just met how old they are; but if you must know I'm 27 and I'll be 28 in March."

"We're the same age, that's good to know. Are you here on Holiday to visit our great country or are you on Vacation?"

"I'm on Holiday, I've always wanted to travel around America, it's different from Japan it's a very beautiful country." _'Please don't ask me for my passport.'_

"I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying it, although you won't be enjoying it for a while at least not until your cars fixed. It got some serious damage when it rolled over into that ditch. I had to wait for the rains to stop yesterday morning to have it towed into town."

"How long have I been out of it?"

"I pulled you out of your car three days ago, I was starting to worry that you had a concussion and had slipped into a coma. But I'm glad that you seem to be all right."

"Thank you for your help and for caring for me. I don't know how long I would have been there until someone would have found me." _'Gosh you're beautiful why can't I stop staring at you?'_

"If I hadn't been on my front porch I never would've seen you go off the road. I'm just glad that you weren't seriously hurt and all you got was a good bump on the head and a dislocated shoulder. Are you hungry? Could you handle a bowl of stew?"

"Yes that sounds wonderful, thank you."

"I'll go dish you out some; I'll be right back."

She stood up and turned and walked away from me, but the further away she got the more my heart felt a squeezing sensation almost as if it didn't want her to leave. As I watched her back I noticed the gentle sway of her hips and I couldn't keep my eyes off of them until she disappeared around the corner.

'_What is it about this woman that I'm having these reactions? Why is she affecting me in this way? I can't let her get close to me. I can't let anyone get close to me, or they'll find out what I'm hiding.'_

After a few minutes she came back around the corner with a potholder and a bowl sitting on top of it. The moment she came around the corner my heart started to race, as if it was excited to see her I'm still confused over my body's reaction to this stranger that I just met.

"I forgot to ask you if you're a vegetarian or not. Do you eat meat?"

"Yes I do, thank you for asking."

"Good, I'm glad you do." She sits down on the edge of the bed lifts a spoonful of the stew up and gently blows on it to cool it down, then she proceeds to lift it towards my mouth as if she was going to feed me.

"It's all right I can feed myself." Then I proceed to try and set up and my body protests with excruciating pain as I ended up using my right shoulder to try and pushed myself up. I fall back down onto the bed panting trying to control the pain that I've caused myself.

"I would not recommend that you use your right shoulder again, at least for another day or so and give your body a chance to recover. So I'll feed you tonight and then we'll see how you're doing in the morning; all right."

I nodded my head yes as I didn't know if my voice was going to be steady enough to reply. She lifts the spoonful of stew back up to my mouth and proceeds to feed me. As I'm chewing I'm letting the flavors meld into my mouth, I don't think I've ever had anything this delicious since I left Japan, and at that only my mother's cooking could rival Fate's.

"Is it good or do I need to work on it some more?"

"It's delicious; you would give my mother a run for her money."

"I'm glad to hear that you like it, it's just me and Arf so I don't get too many people to cook for any more."

"Arf?"

"She's my dog although she's a husky wolf mix. She's the sweetest thing unless she protecting me."

Every time she lifted up the spoonful of the stew she would gently blow on it to cool it down for me, I could feel my cheeks starting to grow red as I thought that this could almost be thought of as an indirect kiss, which is making my heart race every time she blows on the food that she gives me.

"Are you all right? You look like you're getting a fever you're turning red."

I shook my head no and continued eating, how could I tell her that it was my reaction to her feeding me or the closeness of her body? Halfway through the bowl she stopped blowing on it and just feed it to me, all too soon the bowl of stew was gone.

Now that my belly was full I was starting to feel drowsy; my eyes were getting heavy with sleep. As they slowly started to close I heard her whisper good night and that she would see me in the morning_. 'Why do I feel warm and safe in her presence? I've only just met her maybe not even an hour ago and already I want to trust her, but I know I can't because if she finds out about my past I'll have to move on and I don't want to do that just yet.'_

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><p>The next morning when I woke up I had an Angel watching me, but this Angel still had sad and lonely eyes even if she was trying to cover it up with a smile.<p>

"Good morning Nanoha, did you sleep well last night?"

"Yes I did thank you for asking." I was not about to tell her about my nightmares. But the look in her eyes told me she knew it was not a restful night's sleep.

"I have to go into town for some things. Do you need anything?"

"No, I'll be fine." The look in her eyes said she didn't want to leave, and I didn't want her too either.

"Well the sooner I leave the sooner I'll get back, so I'm going to head out now; unless you'd like to go with me? We can have breakfast in town. If you would like that is?"

"Mmm, that sounds good. I'll be able to check on my car too, and see how much I will have to save up to pay for the repairs."

"Okay, I'll go get your clothes, be right back."

'_Clothes?' _That's when I looked down at myself and saw that I was not in my own clothes but someone else's. Then I noticed I wasn't wearing any underwear. I could feel my cheeks get warm from my blush. _'She's seen me naked. How can I look her in the eyes now? What why do I feel warm and tingly at that thought that she seen me naked? Kami's what is wrong with me?'_

"Here you go; I washed and fix some rips they got from the accident. We'll get your clothes out of your car today to. Do you need help getting dressed?"

"NO…no I think I can get it, thank you for the offer." I turned my face so she wouldn't see it turn red and worry.

After she left the bedroom I slowly and gingerly undressed myself and then redressed in my own clothes. My right shoulder was not as painful as it was last night, so it must be on the mend. Probably in another day or two I won't have any pain at all.

As I left the bedroom the first door that I came upon on my right was a bathroom, so I went in and decided to fix my hair as it was a mess. It was rather difficult trying to do it one-handed so instead of putting my hair back in a ponytail I decided to put it on the side of my head as it was easier for me to fix.

After leaving the bathroom I continued down the hall when I came to a large room. To my right was a huge kitchen that my mother would be very envious of, it looked like it had all the latest amenities and newest appliances. The colored décor kind of surprised me as it was black and stainless steel with splashes of yellow here and there. Something that had caught my eye was the door knobs they were in the shapes of lightning bolts.

Looking to my left was a relatively large dining room very rustic in its appearances, as the table and all of the chairs looked like they were handmade, stained and then finished. Next to the dining room was a very large and comfortable living room with what looked like a leather couch some reclining chairs and tables as well is a fireplace with a beautiful mantle which also looked handmade.

I didn't see Fate anywhere so I assumed she was outside waiting for me, opening the front door I stepped out onto a very large and spacious front porch. It went the entire length of the front of the house and went about 6 feet deep.

Sitting on one of the two Adirondack chairs was Fate, in front of her was a very large orange colored dog with bright blue eyes, I was assuming this is her dog Arf. Upon seeing me stepping outside the dog comes over and sniffs my leg, so I knelt down and held out the palm of my hand so that she would know I was a friend.

After getting her approval she licked my hand and then proceeded down the stairs toward the truck. It was what was on this truck that actually stopped my heart for a moment, on the side of it, it said Sheriff with a star and on top of the roof were the blue and red lights.

"All set to go looks like Arf is ready to go have breakfast. Nanoha are you all right? You look little pale, if you're not feeling well you can stay here at the house if you'd like."

"No it's okay I just didn't realize that you were the Sheriff, it surprised me that someone so beautiful could be the Sheriff."

I could see her blush and then I realized what I had said, I decided to keep my mouth shut as I didn't want to embarrass myself any further. Not wanting to embarrass myself further I decided to walk towards the truck, as I opened up the front passenger door Arf jumped in and was sitting on the seat that I was supposed to sit on.

"Arf backseat girl you know the drill when I've got a passenger." Arf's ears sagged as she jumped into the back seat and then curled up as if she was disappointed she couldn't ride shotgun.

I giggled as I climbed up into the front seat thinking that I might have just made an enemy of very large dog. Fate climbed into the front seat and started up the truck driving around her circular driveway and down the road.

It took us about 20 min. to get town; Fate said that she needed to stop at the office for a few minutes and check on her Deputies and then we could head to the diner for breakfast. As I sat in the truck I became more nervous thinking the any time she would come out with her deputies dragged me out of her truck and throw me in her jail cell.

After what felt like hours and years off my life Fate came out with a smile on her face, climbing into the truck she started it up and started driving down street again. I released the breath that I had been holding the entire time I think that she was inside that building.

After a short drive we pulled in front of a building from the looks of the building it hadn't changed in the past decade, as the outside of it looks like it was from the 50s or 60s it'll be interesting to see if the inside matches the exterior.

The three of us got out of the truck and start walking towards the door, Fate moved around and held the door open for me I thanked her with a nod and stepped inside the diner. Have you ever seen those TV shows were a stranger walks into a restaurant and all conversation stops? Well that is exactly what just happened to me I got about 3 feet into the diner and stopped dead in my tracks, because all conversation stopped and all eyes were staring directly at me.

Fate wasn't expecting me to stop so quickly and she bumped into me, placing her hand on my left shoulder she apologized and then pointed towards a booth that said reserved. With those actions everyone stop staring at me and the conversations they had before were restarted as if nothing had happened.

After sitting down at the booth Fate handed me one of the menus, Arf laid down just underneath the table to stay out of the way of people walking by. As I look around I see that the inside resembles the exterior in every way, from the original tables and booths to the counter and even the décor; I feel like I've been thrown back into the 1950s or 60s. Even the outfits that the waitresses are wearing are of that time period.

One of the waitresses came up to us smiling over at Fate for some reason that smile made me very uncomfortable. "Morning Fate, who's the hottie? Is she your new girlfriend? If you are looking for a new girlfriend you could've been looking for me you know I'd crash with you anytime."

"Not now Wendi she is not my girlfriend. She got into a car accident a couple days ago in front of my house so I've been helping her, and don't even think about hitting on her she's off limits. Do I make myself clear young lady?"

Giving Fate a military salute she replies. "Yes ma'am, so what can I get you ladies to drink?"

"I'll take my usual, Nanoha what would you like to drink?"

Watching them interact I said the first thing that came to mind. "Hot tea would be fine thank you."

"Okay I'll be right back with your drinks." As she was walking away I noticed she put little sway in her hips and for some reason that was just a big turnoff for me because she wasn't Fate.

Noticing where my thoughts were going I decided to bury my nose in the menu. When I noticed out of the corner of my eye a little girl with pink hair walking up to us, she stopped as if she wasn't sure she should be there. Both Fate and I were looking at her and then Fate asked if she could help her.

The little girl shook her head no and then looked directly at me. "Are you Japanese?" I nodded my head yes in answer to your question. "Is your name Nanoha?" With a confused look on my face I nodded my head yes again. "Then I'm supposed to give you this."

In her hand looked like a piece of paper she handed it to me. It was actually an envelope and on the outside in Japanese wording was my name, my real name _**Nanoha Takamachi.**_

I looked back up to ask the little girl where she had gotten this envelope but she had disappeared. With hands that were slightly trembling I unsealed the envelope pulling out the paper I started to read it. It was the same handwriting as the first letter.

_**My Dearest Nanoha,**_

_**I am so pleased that you were able to find me in this town. Now all you have to do is figure out which of these townspeople I am before you meet an untimely end, just like your fiancé did. Hahaha. Good luck my lovely.**_

_**Q**_

I could feel the blood draining out of my face I felt cold all over, I finally found the place I needed to be but now I was terrified, what should I do? Who could I turn to? The only person that I knew was the one sitting in front of me and she was the law, could I trust her or would everything fall apart before I could prove my innocence.

I needed to bring the murderer of my fiancée to justice but could I do it before I'm arrested and deported, or worse killed myself?

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><p><strong>Authors Notes<strong>: Well everyone that is the end of this chapter for this story I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed bringing all of my stories to you.

Please leave a review I love hearing back from my readers. All positive criticism is welcome.

Until the next chapter or story, enjoy the read.

_In Love & Light,_

_Zona Rose };-_

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><p>BR 831/2011


	2. Starlight's Pain

**A/N:** WOW! Can you all believe that I am updating another story that has been sitting on the shelf for way too long. Well everyone here is the second chapter to Starlight Passion.

This chapter is not beta read, sorry for any mistakes.

**Warning**: This is an M rated story and will have a cold shower chapter or two. I will let you know when those chapters comes up. Also, this story is rated M for other reasons besides the cold shower chapters. I have placed a warning where there will be some graphic descriptions. It isn't a very long seen and I put an end to the warning so you know where to pick the story back up, if you do not wish to read that part.

This story contains Yuri/girl loving girl note you have been forewarned.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha I also do not make any money from my stories. I use the characters in accordance with _**fair use**_.

Now without further ado I present to you the next chapter of Starlight Passion, I hope you enjoy the read.

_ZR };-_

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><p><em><strong>Starlight Passion<strong>_

_**By**_

_**Zona Rose**_

_**Chapter 2 Starlight's Pain**_

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><p><strong>Fate's POV<strong>

After Caro left I looked back at Nanoha, I could tell that her face had paled at whatever she was reading. This concerned me, but then I noticed that she started to tremble like a leaf in the wind. I put my hand on her forearm and the contact made her jump.

"Nanoha are you all right? What is it? Is it a threatening letter? Please I'd like to be able to help you, but I can't if you don't tell me what's going on."

"How do I know I can trust you? I've only just met you, for all I know you could be the one that sent this. What guarantee or assurance can you give me that could make me trust you?"

I was dumbfounded by what she had said, it seems whatever was in that letter has truly shaken her. All I could do was stare at her with a pained look on my face. A short while later our drinks were brought and our orders were taken. After eating, we went over to the garage to check on her car.

Jail was underneath the hood of her car when we got there. When he heard us drive up, he immediately came out to greet us. I could tell right away that he was going to be an ass the way he was swanking out of the garage. He also had his usual snide smile that always rubbed me the wrong way, no matter what time of day it was.

"Well, well, well look what the cat dragged in. Looks like I have two pretties coming to see me: either one of you need company for tonight? I am after all totally available for some nice warm company."

"Not today Jail, I'm not in the mood for it. We just need to get Nanoha's luggage and to find out how much the repairs are going to be, and how long it's going to take. Can you do that without being irritating, because I would really like that today."

He glowers at me. "Well you're just no fun today are ya Sheriff Harlaown."

"Let's just say my day went downhill from moment I saw your face. So can we get this over with as quickly as possible? There are still some other things I need to do today."

"Fine if that's the way you're gonna be; well the repairs are going to be on the expensive side not only does the body need to be repaired, you need a new front window no way you gonna be able drive with no window. Also your engine is kinda in need of some serious repair probably would need a total rebuilt engine, and then finally your electric system, went haywire because it got soaked in all that rain being upside down and in that ditch, so I'm going to have to do a total rewire of your car. I'm not exactly sure what the final bills going to be, but you might be better off buying another car at this point. It might be cheaper than having this old clunker repaired."

Nanoha looked slightly stressed. "Well no matter what I do I'm going to need to get a job so that I can pay for either the repairs or a different car. Can you give me an estimate on how much this is going to cost to repair my car?" She looked over at me "Or do you think it would be more economical if I looked for a different vehicle? I've never had to go through something like this before, so I would greatly appreciate some input as to what would be best."

"Are you asking me for my help Nanoha? Because back at the Café I offered you help and you bit my head off."

Nanoha looked at the ground I'm quite sure she was embarrassed I should've held my tongue as I don't know what kind of situation she's in that would've caused her to react that way back at the Café.

"I'm sorry that was uncalled for Nanoha." I looked over at Jail "When you get an estimate give me a call at the house and we'll go from there all right?"

"Yeah, yeah whatever you say Sheriff Harlaown."

We were heading back to my truck when I noticed one of my deputies was running towards us. I gave her a few minutes to catch her breath then she gave me the report that was so important she had to run to catch up to me.

"Sheriff, Sheriff Needes needs to see you, something about an old case coming back to life in a bad way. She wouldn't tell me anything more, just that you needed to hightail it to her office."

There's only one case that Signum would call me to her town for, looking over at Nanoha she looked a bit nervous. "Subaru, why don't you take Nanoha back to my place, while I take care of this?"

"Yeah, sure no problem Sheriff; hi it's nice to meet you my name is Deputy Subaru Nakajima."

"Hi I'm Nanoha, … Tsukimura, Nanoha it's nice to meet you."

"_She hesitated on her last name similar to the way she did last night. There has to be a reason why she's being so secretive. I just wish she would trust me, but I guess trust with her is going to have to be earned. I just hope I can earn it enough so that I can help her. Right now I can't think of that I've got a bad feeling that the past is about to come back to haunt us, well me at least."_

I watched Subaru pickup Nanoha suitcase and take her over to the deputies' truck. Knowing that Nanoha was now in good hands. I climbed into my truck and headed for the next town over to meet up with an old friend. The hours drive was pretty much uneventful although my stomach was churning the entire time.

By the time I pulled up in front of the Sheriff's office, I was wishing I hadn't eaten breakfast. As there was nothing I could do about it, I got out of my truck with Arf right behind me and we walked inside looking for Signum. She was at her desk with a worried expression on her face, if she's worried than I'd better be too, because it takes a lot to get this woman upset never mind worried.

"Ahh Testarossa, I'm glad you were able to make it so quickly."

"When are you going to stop calling me by that name?"

"Why is there a problem calling you by your birth last name, Testarossa?"

"I guess not but you're the only one who does."

"Then I guess I'm special that way aren't I, but enough of this I didn't have you come all the way here just to talk about your last name. I think we may have a serious problem again, one that was never solved."

"What do you mean Signum?"

"Whoever committed those murders a couple of years ago apparently has come back. One of our transients was found dead a few days ago, murdered in the exact same way as your mother and sister."

"Are… are you sure about that? There's no question it's the exact same way."

"I have no doubt Testarossa, we now have three murders and they all seem to be women, which could be the start of a pattern. I'm thinking of calling my cousin who is an Interpol agent over in Japan to see if there have been any other murders internationally that matches what we have here."

"Good idea the time in between could be spent abroad committing these heinous acts in other countries. Let me know what your cousin comes up with? Oh one more thing have you had any drifters come through your town lately?"

"There was a young woman she stopped in for a meal, slept in her car for a few hours, but then headed out. I don't think she had anything to do with it, but we did find the body after she left town. She's probably already driven through your town by now."

"Did you get a good look at her? I ended up saving a woman who was trapped in her car during a pretty bad storm. She has Chestnut Brown hair that is long, blue eyes and her complexion is fair. Does this sound like the woman that came through your town the other day?"

"I didn't get a really good look at her but that sounds about right on the description."

"She won't be going anywhere anytime soon; her car got pretty badly damaged in that storm."

"That's too bad she looked like she was down on her luck when she came through town. I was even going to offer her stay inside the jail here so that at least she'd have a bed to sleep on. However, she went pale and ran into her car locking the door. I don't know what that was all about; makes me wonder if she's had a bad experience with the law before. That wouldn't surprise me with the way some of these guys act when they get the badge."

"The woman sure has some trust issues that's for sure, I offered to help her as she ended up getting a mysterious letter at the diner, which seem to really shake her up. She practically crawled into her shell when I asked her if she was all right or if she needed help. Practically bit my head off in the process, but I guess I can't blame her if she's had bad dealings with the law before."

"Hmm. I think in a situation like that Testarossa only time will be able to win trust from her. But that's not here nor there; here's a copy of the file of our new murder, I figured you probably would want a copy of it, so that you could compare to see if we really do have that murderer back."

"I'd like to see where you found the body and at all possible, I'd like to inspect the body before I head home."

"I figured you probably want to do that. I left everything as much as possible. The way I found it, except, of course, having to move the body. Shamal's still doing the autopsy as soon as she's done I'll have everything faxed over to your office or would you prefer I fax it straight to you at your house?"

"The office is fine. I don't want my new house guest reading the report; it might disturb her more than she already is."

"All right let's get to it."

* * *

><p><strong>Nanoha's POV<strong>

Subaru put my suitcase in the back of another truck before heading out of town. She said she had to stop at the office to let the other deputy know where she was going. I thought this was a bit strange, as she probably could've just radioed it in instead of going into the office personally.

That was until an orange haired girl was pulling Subaru out of the office by her ear screaming that she had better be taking me to Fate's house and not out on some tryst.

"I swear Tea; you're the only girl for me. I would never cheat on you."

"You better not, or you're a dead woman. Do you hear me?"

When the other deputy noticed that I look scared in the passenger seat, she let go of Subaru's ear told her to get out of here and pushed her hard almost down the stairs, then turned around and went back into the office. Subaru finished coming down the stairs, rubbing her ear but she looked back at the office door, red as a tomato and if she had little hearts in her eyes. I wouldn't be surprised.

It seems some people like it rough, but not me. I've always wanted a gentle hand, a loving hand. A hand, I will never feel again because… no, I can't think of that. I'll start crying and I can't do that, I have to be strong. I can't rely on anyone else. I'm the only one who can do this and stop it before it gets out of hand.

We were outside of town. By the time, I realize that Subaru had been talking to me ever since she got in the truck. She seems to be the type of person that's a chatterbox she can't seem to stop talking, which is fine; it filled up the space between us and made the trip faster. When we got to Fate's house, she went around and took out my suitcase walked right up the stairs and straight into the house, I hadn't realized that Fate hadn't locked the door. I wonder if that's commonplace around here. If it was that would give Q, I chance to get into anyone's house and kill them.

I hadn't noticed that. Subaru is still talking so I followed her voice and found her standing in the laundry room.

"… so your probably gonna want to wash them."

"I'm sorry deputy I've missed some of that. What did you say?"

"Oh, sorry I thought you could hear me when I was walking away. Anyway, I said you're clothes got all soaked from that rain and it'd been sitting in your car, the entire time. So you probably want to get them all washed."

"Yes I was planning on seeing if I had anything that needs to be washed. Thank you deputy for your help."

"Please call me, Subaru."

"All right, Subaru if you'll call me, Nanoha."

"It's a deal, well I gonna get back before Tea thinks that I'm doing something that I'm not. So I'll see you around. Bye-bye."

"Bye Subaru again thanks for your help."

I watched as Subaru got back in her truck and drove down the driveway and head towards town, it so peaceful here and so quiet. I could almost get used to this, instead of the hubbub of a busy city. Turning around, I make my way back to the laundry room start separating my clothes and getting the washing started.

After I got a load of laundry started, I realized that I was getting hungry again, when I found a clock. It read one o'clock in the afternoon it was well past lunchtime. I made my way into the kitchen and opened up the refrigerator. There I found the remnants of last night supper. The beef stew that she'd given me that would actually be good warmed up for lunch with little bread-and-butter.

I took it out of the refrigerator found where the pots and pans were and started heating up the stew. I found some herbs and added a few more herbs to give it a little more flavor than it already did. While the stew was heating through, I explored the kitchen and the pantry. For someone who lives alone, she sure does have a well-stocked kitchen and pantry.

She even has enough supplies, if I wanted to bake some muffins or pastries. The idea of making something again, actually starts getting my heart thumping again. I haven't done that in so many years. I wonder if I'm as good as I used to be, well, there's only one way to find out and that would be bake some muffins for tomorrow morning.

"I think I'll do that after I eat lunch, which by the looks of it is done."

Spooning myself out some stew. I turned the stove down to low to keep the stew warm. I grabbed some bread-and-butter then made my way into the dining room and sat down. As I was looking around while eating, I noticed there were some pictures on the fireplace mantle. The picture in the center was the largest out of all of them in it had a woman with mauve to gray hair and in front of her were two twins, both with yellowish hair in pigtails; although we would call it twin tail fashion. All of them were smiling and very happy. The woman in the back had her head resting on one of the girls' heads, but her arms were around both of them in a loving embrace.

As I looked at the pictures on both left and right, I noticed that only one blonde was in any of those pictures. It was either with a dog, or with a woman with teal hair and a young man with black hair. The other two were never in any of the other pictures, but I also noticed that the blonde's eyes were always sad and lonely like they are now.

"Something must've happened to her to make her look so sad."

I was so engrossed in looking at that center picture than I never heard the door open or the clicking of nails come up behind me.

"That's a picture of the three of us. My mother, twin sister Alicia, and myself."

I jumped in fright as I spun around Arf took that moment got up on her hind legs and pushed me down onto the floor. Licking my face as if she had missed me. I thought I was being attacked and start screaming. Arf went running into the other room with her tail between her legs as Fate comes running over to me.

"Are you all right? I didn't mean to scare you and Arf wasn't attacking you. She was just excited to see you."

I was panting and shivering. So, Fate pulled me into her arms and up against her shoulder. After few minutes, I calmed down and leaned into her embrace. It felt so wonderful to be cradled in someone's arms and know you're safe, but was I really safe could I trust her, if she found out she would probably turn her back on me.

I pulled away from her, even though my body protested at my action because it longed to be held by her. I stood up and stepped back away from her to give us some space, even if it was the last thing that I truly needed mentally, and emotionally; I had to.

"I'm sorry I didn't realize you didn't hear us come in. I didn't mean to scare you like that."

"It's all right, it's just I was admiring your pictures and noticed that it was the only one that had the three of you, in it."

"Shortly after this picture had been taken, my mother had been murdered. A few months later, my sister was found murdered the same way as my mother. The woman with teal hair, Lindy Harlaown adopted me at the time she was the Capt. of the state police and her son, Chrono was just starting Cadet training. I think it was because of them that I decide to become a Sheriff, but I think most of all it's because I want to find whoever murdered my family. You see their murderer has never been found."

"I'm sorry to hear that Fate. I know what it's like to have someone you love very dearly ripped from you. You see, my fiancée was murdered. They thought they had found the person that had done it, tried and convicted them, but I know that person didn't do it. They put the wrong person in jail, Fate, just be careful you don't do the same thing with whoever murdered your family."

She looked at me with surprise and shock, until I realized I might have revealed too much. "Excuse me I need to check on my laundry; left over stew is warming on the stove in the kitchen."

* * *

><p><strong>Fate's POV<strong>

When I had wrapped my arms around her, it was like I never wanted to let go and when she pulled away I felt so alone, so useless without her by my side. I was so shocked at what she had said that I couldn't even think I just stood there staring after her. I was happy that she opened up to me, but it was so cryptic I wasn't sure if she was talking about herself or someone else in her life.

I slowly made my way into the kitchen served myself some stew and sat down at the table. When I put the first spoon into my mouth, it tasted different than it did last night. It actually tasted 10 times better; I wonder if she added stuff to it, which would probably make sense.

After finishing my stew, I went into the kitchen and put my bowl in the sink. The remaining stew in the pot, I placed in a container and put it in the refrigerator. Then I washed up my bowl and the pot and set them to dry. Leaving the kitchen, I pick up the file that Signum gave me and headed for my office, which was just off from the living room.

My home office is simple, a file cabinet, desk, and a full-sized wall corkboard. The corkboard had all the information that I felt was relevant to my family's murder. You could probably call me obsessed over this, but I have made it my life's work up to now, the find out who murdered them. It would seem that my family wasn't the only victim to this crazed murderer.

I sit behind my desk and prepare myself to read what's in the file. I'm quite sure it's going to be just as nasty as it was reading my mother and sisters files. Opening the file, the first thing that assaulted me were the pictures.

**Warning: What follows could be uncomfortable for some people to read about. I just felt it was necessary to put a small warning in here. This story is rated M for more than one reason.**

Just like with my mother and sister. The victim had been very beautiful. I also noticed that she was staked out, spread eagle, and the horrified look on her face, told me that she had been awake and alive during the entire assault. I flipped through the pictures, as there was a picture of the knife wound before and after the knife had been removed.

There was also a picture of the woman's breasts as well as her genitalia. Her breasts had been sliced and mutilated probably with the same blade and knife that had killed her. There were also signs that she had been raped repeatedly, as there was severe tearing and bruising in the genitalia area, probably using something that was a foreign object. As there is never been, any DNA found in or on any of the victims.

Continuing on to the preliminary report it read:

_Upon finding the victim, it was obvious that she had been assaulted, an hour before being found. As the pictures indicate, her death was by knife speculating that it was in the heart. The victim had been mutilated as well is repeatedly raped and sodomized. Upon further inspection, the bruising and bleeding had happened while the victim was still alive, which probably means she was awake during the entire assault as well as the stabbing which finally took her life._

_Inspecting the knife wound it looked like she ended up having a slow death as her heart was still beating with a knife in it. Every time, her heartbeat she would slowly bleed to death until finally her heart stopped._

_The clothing of the victim was never found. I will be attaching the autopsy results to this file, when the autopsy has been completed._

_Dr. Shamal Needes_

**End of the warning.**

The report and the pictures were almost exactly like my mother and sisters' files. She was murdered exactly how they were. Which means it looks like we may have a serial killer on our hands, as all of the victims so far have been women, and they've all been stripped naked, raped, and murdered.

I knew I shouldn't have eaten anything before this, as my stomach was now in knots and I was feeling nauseous, but I won't give into it. I won't let this person win whoever it is. No, whoever he is, it has to be a man to be this sick and sadistic. He has issues with women that has to be why he's doing this.

Ring… Ring… Ring…

I picked up the phone that was on my desk, I could tell by the caller ID it was Signum.

"Yes, Signum, what have you got for me?"

"_Testarossa, I was able to contact my cousin over in Japan's Interpol. She said that there've been a couple of murders in Japan, which resemble what we have here. She plans to research them a little bit more before sending me any more information. _

_In addition, Shamal is not yet done with the autopsy. She said she probably wouldn't be done until late tomorrow. When I have it, I'll call you first and then fax it to wherever ever you're at. That way you can get your hands on it right away."_

"Hmmm… I've just been looking over this file. It's exactly like my mother and sisters', so it looks like we might have a serial killer on our hands."

"_Just what I was hoping you wouldn't say, Testarossa."_

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Signum."

"_As soon as I get any more information for you, I'll give you a heads up."_

"Thanks, Signum I'll talk to you later. Bye."

"_Later, Testarossa." _

I put the receiver down into its cradle and put my fingers to my temples, and tried rubbing away the headache that was coming on. Knowing the only thing that probably would get rid of the headache was medication and a short nap. I got up to leave my office, but before I did. I closed the file and moved it to the side of my desk.

Closing the door behind me, I made my way over to the bathroom, got into the medicine cabinet and got out some migraine medication. It's over-the-counter stuff, but it works in a pinch especially when I get the bad headaches. Washing the medication down my throat with some nice ice-cold Mountain water, I sighed at the refreshing drink, and then made my way slowly towards my bedroom, so I can lay down for about half an hour to an hour.

Coming around the corner, I could hear movement in my bedroom. It was probably Nanoha and as I didn't want a repeat of earlier. I decided to make some noise, so I wouldn't scare her upon entering my bedroom. When I walked into my room, Nanoha was folding her laundry on the side of the bed.

She looked over at her shoulder at me with fear in her eyes, so I just smiled at her. That seemed to relax her a little bit. As I moved closer to the bed, I realize she was going to need some place to put her clothes while she was staying here. I was trying to think of somewhere where she could put her clothing, instead of back in the suitcase that probably needed a good cleaning, after staying soaked for so long.

Then I snapped my fingers, which made her jump a little bit. "Sorry. Sometimes when I get an idea, I tend to snap my fingers, sorry. Anyways I was thinking you needed a place to put your clothing in something and not back into that suitcase. As I'm not using these drawers over here, you're more than welcome to use them."

"Thank you, I was thinking of just putting them in the chair over there, but putting them in those drawers will be much easier."

"Good I'm glad that will work out for you. If you don't mind, I just need to lay down for little bit. I've got a bad headache, and I've taken some medication for it."

"Oh here, let me move my clothing for you."

"No that's okay, keep doing what you're doing. I can sleep on the other side of the bed. After all, we're both going to have to share this bed, as it's the only one in the house. Therefore, you can have that side, and I'll take this one."

Nanoha blushed and nodded her head once. Busying herself, she started moving the clothing into the drawers that I had indicated earlier. Soon after, she left the room. Lying down I face the wall and window in front of me. So many things are going through my mind, my mother, sister and now Nanoha. Finally, I let sleep wash over me.

I wake up to the early evening light outside and the smell of something delicious wafting in the air from the kitchen. Stretching my sore muscles from sleeping tense. I make my way into the kitchen where Nanoha is busy. Standing by the entrance. I watch her work as if this was something that she has done all her life.

Looking around the kitchen, I can see some muffins cooling, and now she's frosting what looks like a cake. I haven't had homemade sweets or baked goods, since my mother passed. Those are definitely good memories and I close my eyes and breathe in the smells. Expelling a sigh of happiness. I didn't realize how loud I was until I heard Nanoha give a little squeak of surprise.

Opening my eyes, I can see Nanoha look at me with fear. Raising my hands in an open hand gesture, "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scare you. I was just remembering when my mother use to bake things in the house for my sister and I. Thank you for reminding me of the good times with them."

Nanoha nodded her head once, "I hope you don't mind that I took over your kitchen like this. Baking has always helped me sort through things. I guess you could call it my way of releasing tension."

"Nanoha, as long as you're staying here with me, you don't have to ask permission to go or use anything. I want you to feel as comfortable here as possible."

With a small smile, "Thank you, Fate."

"You're welcome."

The rest of the evening went by in pleasant company and conversation. We worked on dinner together and after I cut a piece of the cake that, she had made earlier. It was chocolate fudge with chocolate chip chunks and chocolate frosting with shaved chocolate on top. I have never eaten a sweeter or a more decadent thing. If this is what she does to release tension than she can make as many as she wants. I will gladly feed my sweet tooth on anything that she bakes.

With every moan of pure bliss that I had made, Nanoha's cheeks would get redder and redder until finally she got up to go into the bathroom. Soon after, I heard the shower turn on and then she made her way to bed. I washed up the dishes and clean the kitchen, and then made my way into the bedroom to grab my nightgown. I went into the bathroom, took a quick shower, and changed. Climbing into bed. It felt strange to have someone sleeping next to me, but soon my tired brain decided it had had enough for the day and shut down into sleep.

If I only knew what the coming days were going to be like, I would never have left Nanoha side for a single moment.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** well everyone that concludes the second chapter. I'm hoping that the third chapter will not take as long to post, as the years that it did for this one. I hope you all enjoyed it. I do enjoy bringing my fantasy, creative world and putting it out there for you all to read.

All reviews are welcomed, constructive criticism in reviews are welcomed, but as always, flamers will be ignored.

I think my readers for being patient and waiting for me to get past the writers block, that I've been dealing with over the past few years. I am sorry it has taken me so long to get back into my writing.

In Love & Light,

Zona Rose };-


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